The Unknown Uchiha
by DraconianKat
Summary: Sequel to "The Senju and The Uchiha". Miyuki Terada was as happy as she could be. Being a ninja is exactly what she wanted to do, despite her parents trying to encourage her to live a normal life. After she experiences a tragedy, she ends up on a quest of self-discovery to try and find out who she really is.
1. Chapter 1

Twelve year old Miyuki Terada brushed her white hair in front of her full length mirror. She was wearing her typical red shirt with black accents and black capris; her weapon's pouch was strapped to her right leg.

Today was her first day with her new team, so she wanted to make sure she looked good. When she was satisfied with her work, she grabbed her newly acquired headband and tied it around her forehead. She stood back and placed her hands on her hips as she inspected how she looked.

Once she was satisfied with how she looked, her onyx eyes went to the picture they had taken the previous day. She was so excited when she passed the exam to become a genin. Her parents had nervous kind of smiles on their faces, but that's probably because they were civilians. Her grandparents had been too. The picture also looked funny because both of her parents had dark hair, but Miyuki's was white. Her mother said that it was from her side of the family, so that made her feel better, but she still felt out of place.

She didn't understand why no one else in her family had pursued being a ninja, so perhaps that was why she wanted to do it so badly. She wanted adventure and not the boring life of a civilian.

Lord Third had always said she would make a fine shinobi due to her heritage. Miyuki never knew what he meant by that, but she figured it didn't matter. The point was that she wanted to be a ninja and today that dream was a reality.

Finally, she was ready and she headed downstairs.

"Morning mom and dad."

"Good morning, Miyuki." her father replied.

"Did you manage to get any sleep?" her mother asked as Miyuki sat down at the table.

"Surprisingly, yes. But I am so amped up for today! I can't believe I'm a genin now!"

"Just promise us you'll be careful."

"I'll do my best."

Her mother set breakfast down in front of her.

"Thanks, mom, you're the best."

"I try."

Miyuki scarfed down her breakfast then sprinted out the front door. She rounded a corner and crashed into someone, landing her on her butt. She looked and saw she had bumped into Sasuke Uchiha. They both stood up and dusted themselves off.

"Watch where you're going next time, loser."

"I could say the same to you, pretty boy."

Miyuki couldn't understand why all the girls loved him so much. He was a jerk. Her parents had told her to try and be nice to him, and they gently told her what happened to his clan. However, there were times that he just infuriated her.

"Don't call me a pretty boy."

"Then don't call me a loser."

"Whatever. I have to go."

"Fine by me."

Miyuki took off running again. She arrived at the meeting place right on time and quickly greeted her teammates; Kiba, Shino, and Hinata.

"Hi, guys! Hi, Kurenai Sensei!"

They had done introductions the day before when the teams had been made.

"Miyuki, glad you could join us."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this day for anything! So, when do we start our first mission?"

"Right now." Kurenai Sensei weaved some hand signs, but nothing seemed to change.

"What's going on, Kurenai Sensei? Are you trying to pull our leg?" Kiba asked.

Miyuki was a sensory type ninja like her teammates and she felt something was off, so she bent down to the ground and touched it with her first two fingers.

"I think she's put us in a genjutsu."

"Very good, Miyuki."

"So, what do we do now?" Hinata asked.

"Work as a team to try and break the genjutsu."

They all gathered around and started talking.

"How are we going to do this?" Kiba questioned.

"I don't know much about genjutsu." Hinata shyly informed.

"Neither do I," Shino confirmed.

"Okay… so what do we know?" Miyuki encouraged.

"We know that a genjutsu is a visual jutsu that deceives its target." Shino defined.

"And that it relies on the senses to do so," Kiba added.

They all stood there and thought long and hard.

"What if we all try to slow our chakra and cut off our senses?" Shino offered.

Miyuki felt a mass of chakra moving toward them. She turned around and saw three wolves snarling at them.

"Got a plan b, Shino?" Kiba got into position and used man-beast transformation.

"Not at the moment."

"I've got an idea! What if one of us works on waking up?" Miyuki suggested.

"What do you mean, Miyuki?" Hinata asked.

"There's only three wolves. So, if three of us fend off the wolves then the other person can focus on waking up. Once they're awake, then they can release the genjutsu on the others."

"Sounds like a plan, but how do we choose who wakes up?" Kiba asked.

"I think it should be Hinata."

"Why?"

"Because she has the best chakra control out of the four of us," Shino answered

"No way. I thought Miyuki was the best at that." Kiba argued.

The wolves lunged at the genin and they did their best to fight them off.

"Hinata! Why don't you give it a try!" Miyuki suggested.

"Okay, I'll try."

The group continued to fight off the wolves as Hinata did her best to break the genjutsu.

"I don't think I can do it." She admitted.

"Try again! Do your best to tone everything out! Think of something that's not here! I know you can do it, Hinata!" Miyuki encouraged.

Hinata tried again. After several moments, she disappeared from sight. Almost instantly after that, Miyuki found herself awake with the rest of her teammates.

"Well done, you all pass."

"Pass?" Kiba questioned.

"This was a test to make sure you could work as a team and you all performed admirably."

"So, what happens now, Kurenai Sensei?" Miyuki asked.

"Now, I'm going to give you each a piece of paper and I want you to focus some chakra into your hand that's holding the paper."

Kurenai handed them each a piece of paper and they took turns concentrating their chakra into their hand. Miyuki was the last to go. When she focused her chakra the paper quickly caught fire and burned.

"You have a fire chakra nature," Kurenai informed.

"Awesome!"

"Now that you all know what your chakra natures are, you can begin to practice with it, if you so choose."

"You bet I'm going to!" Miyuki thrilled.

"Then I would suggest you talk to your classmate, Sasuke Uchiha. His clan was very good at the fire style jutsus."

Miyuki let out a groan. She knew her sensei was right. As much as she hated it if she wanted to learn fire style jutsu, she was going to have to ask Sasuke. Ordinarily, whenever she needed help, she would ask her parents, but since they weren't shinobi, she would have to look elsewhere.

"Meet at the Hokage's office tomorrow morning. We start our first mission tomorrow."

After she had eaten lunch, Miyuki headed for the Uchiha compound at the edge of the village and waited for Sasuke to return. After about fifteen minutes, he arrived.

"What are you doing here?" he asked rudely.

"Calm down would ya? I'm not here as some weird fangirl or something."

"Then what did you want?"

"Do you know any fire style jutsu you could teach me?"

Sasuke gave her a weird look. "I thought you were a sensory type."

"I am, but I also have a fire chakra nature."

There was a silence.

"If you teach me, I'll never call you a pretty boy again." Miyuki bribed.

"Fine, you've got yourself a deal."

"Yay!"

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Be annoying."

"Alright, Mr. Picky. I'll tone it down."

"Then let's get started."

Time Skip

The next few weeks were filled with missions and training with Sasuke. The more time she spent with Sasuke, the more she began to understand him. She wasn't attracted to him, though. He just wasn't her type.

Miyuki had been training like crazy and today it had finally paid off. She executed a fireball perfectly over the water.

"You picked it up fast," Sasuke said.

"Thanks."

"If you do these hand signs, then you perform the Mythical Fire Phoenix."

Miyuki watched as Sasuke showed her what he meant. She gave it a couple of tries and got the hang of it fairly quickly.

"You really have a knack for it."

"Thanks."

There was an awkward silence.

"Sasuke, why did you teach me two, instead of just the one?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're just not as annoying as everyone else."

"Okay… Well, I should go. I have to get up early tomorrow, we're going to visit my uncle on my dad's side. He lives in a village at the edge of the Land of Fire."

Sasuke was silent.

"I could ask if you could come. That is if you wanted to."

"I'm fine. Just go. I'll see you when you get back."

Miyuki didn't know what to say, so she did as he asked.

When she arrived home she was greeted by her mother.

"Welcome home, Miyuki. How did your day go?"

Miyuki sat at the table, leaned over with crossed arms, and set her forehead on the table.

"That good, huh?"

"I just don't get it. He's nice enough to teach me, but he's still so cold."

"Talking about Sasuke are we?" her father asked as he entered the room.

"Yeah."

"Do you have a crush on him?" her mother asked bluntly.

"No! Of course not! I see him more like family, like maybe a cousin or weird brother or something."

"Well, you know it's not that weird for cousins to marry." her dad added.

"Dad! Not helping even a little bit!"

Her parents chuckled together.

"Alright, Miyuki. If you say there's nothing then we believe you." her mom caved.

"Thank you!"

Her mother set dinner on the table and they all ate. When they were finished, Miyuki helped her mother with the dishes.

"Hey, mom, where does my white hair come from?"

"I've told you, it's from my side of the family."

"Yes, but who else in our family had it?"

"I believe my grandfather said that it was his dad who had it. Why the sudden interest?"

"I don't know, I guess I just always thought it was weird that you and dad had dark hair and mine was white."

"Don't worry about it too much. You're our daughter and that's what matters."

"Can I ask you something else then?"

"Sure honey."

"How come you and dad never became ninjas?"

"That's just the way we were raised. Our parents had raised us to enjoy the simplicity of civilian life and it suited us."

"Were you ever…"

"That's enough questions for tonight, Miyuki." her mother interrupted as she put the last dish away. "You need to some sleep; we've got a long day of travel tomorrow."

"But…"

"Listen to your mother, Miyuki." her dad cautioned.

"Yes, sir."

Miyuki gave her parents each a kiss then went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, the whole family rose with the sun and started on their journey. It took them all day, but they finally made it to her uncle's house.

"Nahiko! Kiho! I'm glad to see you made it safe."

"It's nice to see you too, Elder Brother."

"That couldn't be Miyuki walking with you, could it?"

"It's me, Uncle."

"Wow! Every time I see you, you look just as beautiful as your mother."

"Thank you! And guess what?!"

"What?"

"I'm a genin now!" Miyuki proudly pulled out her headband and put it on.

Her uncle gave her parents a serious look.

"She would have done it even if we had tried to stop her, so we decided to let her do it." Her mother explained.

"Alright, then I guess there's no helping it." He looked back a Miyuki. "You promise me you'll be careful, okay?"

"Of course."

"Good. Now, come inside and rest, you must be tired from your long journey."

They visited with her uncle for around a week, then it was time to head back. Their cart was loaded up with some stuff that her uncle had given them, as well as what the needed for the walk back.

As they walked, Miyuki sensed that something wasn't right. Suddenly! Six men appeared out of the bushes and surrounded them.

"Hand over your cart and all your other valuables!" One demanded.

"You're not getting our cart, you bastards!" Miyuki defended as she pulled a kunai out of its pouch.

"Hey, Boss, we got a wannabe ninja here!"

They all laughed.

"Miyuki! Don't cause any trouble. We should just let them take what they want." her father advised as he moved protectively in front of her.

"That's right. Step away from the wagon."

The family did as they were told. They went to leave but were stopped.

"Boss, there's nothing here except junk."

"Well then, how about we take the girl? White hair isn't something that comes around that often."

Both parents moved in front of their daughter. Two of the men grabbed her mother and another two her father. Her parents fought back as they tried to protect their child. Miyuki still had the kunai in her hand from earlier. At first, she was paralyzed with fear, but then she applied the same technique for getting out of a genjutsu. It calmed her enough that she was able to lunge at the men with her kunai.

"Look out Boss! Here she comes!" One of the men called out.

She landed a good solid kick to his gut and sent him flying into a tree. He smirked as he stood back up.

"Tell you what, girl. You come with me and I'll set your parents free."

Miyuki looked at her parents; their eyes were filled with fear. If going with him was going to keep her parents safe, then she would do it.

"Alright, I'll come with you."

"Good choice."

Suddenly, the men holding each of her parents executed them in front of her.

"NO! You Bastard! You Said You Would Let Them Go!"

"No, actually I said that I would set them free… And now they are. They're free from the pain of this world. Had you refused, I would have killed them slowly, but since you agreed, I gave them a quick death."

Miyuki closed her eyes and let the tears fall as her heart broke and anger raged through her body.

"Now be a good girl and come with us!"

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Her eyes shot open and she glared at the leader. She felt like she could see things more clearly and her hate-fueled her determination to get revenge. She lunged at the leader and locked eyes with him.

"What the hell?! How is that possible?! I thought…"

Miyuki didn't give him the chance to finish his sentence. Everything after that was forgotten as she went into a blind rage. When she was sane again, she counted all the dead bodies of the men who had ambushed her family.

She went over to where her father and mother laid lifeless and closed their eyes. She then emptied the cart of stuff and placed her parents in it with a blanket over them. She let herself cry the whole time as she trekked back to the village.

When she arrived, the two shinobi at the gate quickly helped her with her cart and asked her what happened. As much as she willed it, the tears would not stay away. She hid her face from them as she told them what happened.

Time Skip

The next few months after the incident were all a blur. She stopped her training for the time being and she kept herself locked in her room most of the time. Her teammates had come by a few times to try and talk to her, but she stayed locked away.

Finally, Lord Third entered her room through the window.

"No offense, Lord Hokage, but I don't want to talk."

"Then just listen… Losing someone we love is never easy, but we can choose how it changes us. We can let ourselves be consumed by it, or we can make ourselves better because of it. I know that your parents were proud of you who you are and that they will be proud of the woman you will become."

Something about what he said hit home and Miyuki felt herself calm down and feel determined enough to get back to training. She sat up and looked at him with her onyx eyes.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I knew your family well. If you ever want someone to talk to, I'm here."

From then on, Miyuki went out and trained by herself. She wanted to get her emotions in check before facing anyone else. Finally, after another few months, she was ready to rejoin her team.

"Hey, Miyuki! Glad you came back." Kiba greeted.

"How are you feeling?" Kurenai Sensei asked.

"Like I want to get to training."

"Miyuki…" Hinata started.

"Are you sure you're ready? If you're still grieving you should take more time. Why? Because it could become a distraction on a mission." Shino reasoned.

"I'm fine. I'm ready to get back to it. I just need to get back into the swing of things."

"Alright, let's get started." Kurenai told them.

They paired off and trained. Miyuki did her best to focus on the task at hand. In the end, it turned out to be a good distraction for her as she poured herself into it. When they were done with training, Miyuki walked home and ended up bumping into Sasuke.

"Sorry, I'll watch where I'm going next time." Miyuki apologized.

"Wait. What happened?"

"You mean you still don't know?"

"Know what?"

"My parents were… they were killed." Miyuki closed her eyes and turned her back to Sasuke as the tears flowed freely once again.

"I'm sorry…"

"It's okay… I got revenge on the men that did it…"

"That's good to hear… Now you have nothing more to fear from them."

"I'm going home… I'll see you later, Sasuke."

The next day at training, Kurenai Sensei had an announcement. It was time for the chunin exams. Miyuki wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"I think we're ready! Let's do it!" Kiba said excitedly.

"Count me out," Miyuki informed.

"What? Why?"

"With everything that's happened, I just don't think I'm in the right headspace for it. I will come watch the finals though if that's what you want."

"That's a wise decision. The chunin exams have been said to be very difficult. If you aren't one hundred percent focused, it could mean disaster." Shino confirmed.

"But, you're part of our team!" Kiba objected.

"You only need three to participate and I believe Hinata will do just as good as me."

"Yeah, you're right. Just promise you'll take the next one."

"I promise."

After training, Miyuki wandered around the village and found herself on the hill above the Hokage faces. She sat on the grass and looked out over the village. The wind blew through her long white hair and the sun warmed her as she stared.

"Miyuki?"

She turned around and saw that it was Hinata.

"Hi, Hinata."

Hinata sat down on the grass beside her.

"I just wanted to see if I could be of any help." she said shyly.

"Thanks, but there isn't really much you can do."

There was a moment of silence.

"I just wish my parents could be here to see me become a shinobi." Miyuki opened up.

Hinata just listened.

"Even if there was some way I could talk to them, let them know I did what I thought was the best thing…"

"I'm sure they understood your position and the pressure you must have been under."

Ordinarily, this kind of comfort would make Miyuki angry because the person giving it usually didn't understand. However, Hinata seemed very sincere and was actually concerned about how Miyuki was feeling.

"Thanks, Hinata."

Time Skip

Over the next few weeks, Miyuki trained by herself as her friends took the chunin exams. Today, however, she was on her way to the hospital to see Hinata. Kiba told Miyuki that Hinata had faced off against her cousin, Neji, in the preliminaries. When she entered, Hinata's father was there.

"Hello, Hiashi-sama. How is Hinata doing?"

"Hello, Miyuki. She's doing as well as can be expected."

"Hi, Miyuki," Hinata spoke as she woke up.

"Hey, Hinata. How are you feeling?"

"I'm sore all over, but the doctor says I should heal up in no time."

"Do you know how Kiba and Shino's matches went?"

"Kiba didn't tell you?"

Miyuki shook her head.

"I'll let them tell you the details, but Kiba lost and Shino won."

"Nice to know one of us made it through."

"If you had taken the exam, I'm sure you would have too."

"Thanks, Hinata."

After Miyuki finished her visit with Hinata, she stopped at Ichiraku Ramen and ordered her lunch.

"I've never seen you here before."

Miyuki looked over and saw that it was Naruto Uzumaki.

"That's because I don't normally come here, but you and I were in Iruka Sensei's class together."

"Really? Well, it's nice to meet you! What's your name?"

Miyuki had asked her parents why everyone avoided Naruto. Her parents said they would tell her when she was older. They also told her that if she was determined to be friends with him then she could. In the end, Miyuki decided that if Naruto wanted to be her friend then he would come up to her. Today was the first time he had actually spoken to her.

"I'm Miyuki Terada and your name is Naruto Uzumaki, right?"

"Believe it!"

"Did you and your team enter the chunin exams?"

"You bet we did! Sasuke and I are in the Final Round!"

"Well, I wish you both luck."

"Did you enter the chunin exams, Miyuki?"

"No, but my other three teammates did."

"Why didn't you enter?"

"Because… my parents…" Miyuki felt tears filling her eyes as she turned her face away from Naruto.

"Did your parents not want you to?"

"No… my parents… they were killed a few months ago." The tears started to flow freely.

"Miyuki…"

Her ramen arrived. She wiped her tears and began to eat.

"Hey, Old Man!"

"What can I get you Naruto?"

"The usual, and I'll pay for Miyuki's too!"

"Naruto you don't have to do that." Miyuki objected.

"I want to do it. Nothing cheers me up more than free ramen!"

There was just something about Naruto that made Miyuki feel comfortable around him.

"Thanks, Naruto."

"Don't mention it!"


	3. Chapter 3

A month later, Miyuki sat in the stands and watched in awe as Naruto defeated Neji Hyuga. The chakra she sensed coming from Naruto was immense. She didn't know what it was.

The next match up was Sasuke's; he was facing a ninja from the Hidden Sand Village. About halfway through the match, Miyuki felt herself get tired and quickly passed out.

When she came to, she saw that significant damage had been done to the village. She quickly found a jonin and asked what had happened. Her jaw dropped as he explained everything that happened. She felt her heart ache when she heard that Lord Third had died in the attack.

A week later they had the funeral for the Third Hokage and a few weeks after that, the Fifth Hokage was announced.

It had been a total of seven months after the death of her parents and she was finally feeling like she was starting to deal with it a little better. Although, she still had vivid nightmares every night.

Today had been especially hard because it was her thirteenth birthday; the first one without her parents. She had bought herself a cupcake, stuck a candle in it and lit it.

"Happy Birthday to me." she whispered to herself.

She blew out the candle and there was a knock at the door. When she answered, she saw Kiba, Hinata, and Shino.

"Why didn't you tell us it was your birthday?" Kiba questioned.

"Who told you?"

"Kurenai Sensei. It's no fun being alone on your birthday, so we thought we'd come keep you company."

"I don't know…"

"We brought gifts." Kiba bribed.

"Alright, come on in."

The four friends sat on the floor around the coffee table and chatted. Miyuki opened her gifts. She got a book from Hinata, a new weapon's pouch from Shino, and some fingerless gloves, that were too big, from Kiba.

"My mom helped me with your gift. She said you'd grow into them."

"Thanks, you guys, I really needed this."

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Miyuki." Hinata comforted.

Later that night, after everyone left, there was another knock at the door. This time, it was Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke."

"I only came by to wish you a happy birthday and to tell you I'm leaving."

"Thank you, but why are you leaving?"

"I need to avenge my clan."

Miyuki knew exactly how he felt; she was just fortunate enough to be able to get her revenge right away.

"I understand. I won't try to stop you."

"Goodbye, Miyuki."

"Goodbye, Sasuke."

Time Skip

It had been almost three years since Sasuke left and Naruto was off training with Master Jiraiya. Miyuki was now a chunin and wore a layered black and red top, black capris, the weapon's pouch that Shino had given her, and the fingerless gloves that Kiba had given her.

The book that Hinata had given her was a clean romance novel. She had read it about fifty times and had collected other romance novels. She didn't know why she got so into reading, but she did.

Currently, she was up in a tree reading her book when she felt two familiar chakras approaching. She tucked her book in her pocket then waited. It wasn't long till she realized her suspicions were correct. It was Naruto and Master Jiraiya. She leapt out of the tree and landed in front of them.

"So, you're finally back."

Naruto looked at her confused.

"You don't remember me, do you?"

It wasn't a surprise because they hadn't gotten to know each other very well before he left.

"Sorry, you look kind of familiar, but I'm not getting a name." Naruto apologized as he rubbed the back of his head.

"And here I was hoping my white hair would give it away." she teased.

"You're not Pervy Sage's kid are ya?!" he asked in a panic.

Miyuki burst out laughing.

"Naruto, do you really think that if I had a daughter, I'd be able to keep it a secret?" Master Jiraiya sighed.

"I guess not."

"It's Miyuki Terada, we met at Ichiraku Ramen." she explained once she had settled down.

"Oh Right! How are you doing?"

"I'm good. How'd your training go?"

"Awesome! I can do some really amazing stuff now, ya know?"

"Then we'll have to train sometime."

"You bet!"

"We should get back to the village. I'm sure everyone else will want to see you too." Jiraiya mentioned.

"Alright, I'll get back to reading my book then."

When she finished reading, she hopped out of the tree and went back into the village. The sun was setting, indicating that another day was done. She placed her hands on the back of her head and took her time wandering.

"Hey! Miyuki!"

She turned around and was greeted by Kiba and Akamaru, who quickly caught up to her. They continued walking as they talked.

"Hey, Kiba. Are just out walking Akamaru?"

"Yeah. We've been stuck inside all day doing chores at home, so as soon as we were finished, we made a break for it."

"Being stuck inside sucks."

"So, what are you doing right now?"

"Just finished another book, so I decided I would take a walk."

"Figures. You've always got your nose in a book."

"What can I say? I like to read."

"They're not pervy books, are they?"

"Of course not. Until I'm ready, I like my romance kept innocent."

"Good, because I don't know how I'd handle you if you were a perv."

Miyuki gave him a playful smack in the arm. "You're such a pest sometimes."

"But I'm your friend, so you put up with me."

"Too true."

They walked for a bit in silence and they eventually ended up on top of the hill with the Hokage's faces. Miyuki stretched out on the grass and gazed blankly at the sky. Her thoughts wandered to her parents and how much she wished they could be here. A tear escaped her eye, but she didn't wipe it away.

"You're thinking about them again, aren't you?" Kiba asked.

"Hm?"

"Your parents. You're thinking about them?"

"How do you know?"

"That look on your face. You only get it when you're training or thinking about your parents or both."

"Well… there has been something that's seemed off since the whole thing happened."

"What's that?"

"I'm not sure. I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Knowing you, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

A couple of weeks later, Kurenai Sensei, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and Miyuki all stood in the Hokage's office.

"We've had reports of a well-organized group of bandits who have been robbing unsuspecting travelers of all their valuables." Lady Tsunade briefed.

Miyuki felt a mix of emotions well up inside of her. "Do we know what they do if nothing of value is found?"

"No, but there has been a few reports of people going missing in the same area."

Miyuki clenched her fist.

"I understand this may be a difficult mission for you Miyuki, but…"

"I'm fine. If there's any chance that these instances are connected with what happened to my parents, then I want to be the one to bring them down."

Tsunade smiled. "Alright then. Here is a map of all the trails that have been hit." The map was handed to Kurenai Sensei. "I would like you to leave tomorrow. You're dismissed."

Miyuki went straight home and flopped herself on her bed. She began to cry and she didn't hold back. If she was going to cry, it was best to get it out now then take her hate and direct it to the bandits at the proper time. Her vision shifted again, but she just kept crying.

It was always odd to her, that she found herself able to see better when she was emotional. Whenever she trained while upset, she found herself become more accurate with her technique. She usually trained alone when she was upset, though. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She always thought it was weird, but there was so much she didn't know about her family history. She had no way of knowing what power laid buried inside her, so she took it at that and didn't question it beyond that.

She dried her tears as she calmed down and her vision shifted back to normal. She went to her mirror and brushed her hair as she had always done. The picture of her with her parents still safely tucked in the frame.

"I promise, Mom and Dad, I will make sure no one else suffers the same pain I have."

The next day, Miyuki walked up to the meeting place and saw Kiba and Shino talking with Naruto. She saw Shino was pouting and figured it was probably because Naruto had recognized Kiba, but not him. Miyuki greeted Naruto as she walked up.

"Hey! Naruto! Glad to hear you got back from your mission safe and sound. How's the Kazekage doing?"

"He's gonna be just fine now. Nice to see you again, Miyuki."

"You too."

"I see you recognized Miyuki too," Shino added.

"Don't pout, Shino. He only recognizes me now because we ran into each other when he first came back with Master Jiraiya. He didn't recognize me at first either."

"He didn't?"

"Nope. He thought I was Master Jiraiya's kid." Miyuki giggled.

"Well, you both have white hair what was I supposed to think?!" Naruto defended.

Miyuki let out a laugh, but then quickly calmed herself. "So what were you and Kiba talking about?"

"I was saying that since you guys have a bigger squad that one of you guys should join team 7 on a mission."

"Sorry Naruto, we need everyone for this mission."

"Ah come on! What about Hinata?"

"No can do Naruto. Speaking of which, where is Hinata?"

"She's fainted, so she's behind the tree in the shade," Shino informed.

"Well, that didn't take any time."

"You guys are no help at all!" Naruto cried as he stormed off.

A few moments later, Hinata came to, Kurenai Sensei arrived, and they headed out.

"Kurenai Sensei, can I see the map for a moment?"

"Sure."

Kurenai handed her the map. She studied it and saw that the route to her uncle's home was marked as one of the areas that had been hit.

"I think I know exactly where we should start."

"Where's that?" Kurenai asked as Miyuki handed the map back.

"Follow me."

When evening fell, they were walking up to her uncle's home.

"Uncle! Are you home?!"

"Miyuki?! Is that really you?!"

"Yes, Uncle, it's me."

Her uncle grabbed her in a firm bear hug and didn't let go for several minutes.

"I thought you had been killed with your parents." he confessed, finally releasing his grip.

"How did you know what happened? I never contacted you because I didn't want you to be put in danger."

"They came by my home and looked here first. Then they tortured me till I told them where you and your parents were headed. They were after your hair." He hung his head in shame.

"Uncle, don't blame yourself, there wasn't anything you could have done."

"But how did you escape them."

"I'm a ninja, remember?" She pointed to her headband. "I killed the men that murdered Mom and Dad."

"So if you stayed away to keep me safe, then why are you here now?"

"There is a group of bandits doing the same thing, do you know anything about them?"

Her uncle looked at her teammates, then back at her. "Come inside."

They all went into the quaint home and sat in the living room.

"It's the same group the men belonged to that killed your parents." he stated simply.

"Are you sure?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes, they all had the same tattoos as the men before."

"What kind of tattoo?"

"Crossed kunai. It's on their right wrist."

"Does that mean you've run into them, Uncle?" Miyuki inquired.

"No, not yet. I've just heard stories from others. I've also heard they're looking for you."

"Wait a second! How do you know all of this? Are you working for them as a spy?" Kiba accused.

"Kiba! This is my Uncle. He would never lie to me."

"Your parents and I chose not to tell you what I did for a living, but I think it's time you knew…. I'm an information broker."

"How much will this information cost us?" Shino asked.

"No charge. This is for Miyuki and the safety of others. I won't hinder those who want to protect the innocent."

"You said they were looking for me?" Miyuki guided back to the point.

"Yes. Apparently, they know a white haired girl killed their buddies, so they want to capture or kill you."

"Then we know exactly how we can infiltrate them."

"You can't be serious!"

"I am."

"But the chances of them killing you…"

"Uncle, this is why I continued to be a ninja. So that I can protect others… even if I couldn't protect my own parents."

"We'll come up with a plan to keep her alive, Terada-sama," Hinata reassured.

"That's right! She's not doing it alone this time. She's got us to back her up! Right Akamaru?" Kiba enthused.

Akamaru barked his response.

"Alright… If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know." Miyuki's uncle said.

The group immediately got to work concocting a plan to take down the bandit organization.


End file.
